Introduction
Centura Software Corporation (formerly Gupta Technologies) is a long established company whose strength has always been at the PC end of the application development market. Recently it has released a raft of products targeted at, and supportive of, computing in its most distributed form: the embedded application. In this white paper, we examine the market place, the strategy from both a product and a corporate perspective, and try to answer the question, “What is it about Centura that makes it a company to watch over the next two to three years?”
The Market Place
Centura is operating in the embedded/e-business/micro
database/connectivity arena –
a market place it intends to dominate within the next
five years. Clearly, there are others in this space that would also strive
for the top spot in what is a rapidly emerging market. The potential for
intelligent appliances with universal access to data is enormous, and yet
this type of technology currently represents only a small fraction of lightweight
database sales. Similarly, the potential growth of the smart device market
is likely to be measured in millions of units. Reaching right down into
this furthest extension of current distributed computing is Centura’s strength,
allied with the products to facilitate secure connectivity right through
to the back-office systems. This connectivity to legacy systems, combined
with distributed database capability, distinguishes Centura’s market position
from the rest. Possibly number one in the embedded database market is Sybase,
with its SQL Anywhere (formerly WatCom) product, although Centura’s acquisition
of fellow embedded database vendor Raima may well call this ranking into
question. Sybase has struggled over recent years to put a cohesive product
strategy together in other areas, and the company’s primary database product,
Adaptive Server, does not appear to have taken the world by storm. Having
said that, Sybase high-level Relational DataBase Management System (RDBMS)
products remain popular in their traditional financial markets. Pervasive
Btrieve/Scalable SQL, and Cloudscape complete the top four embedded database
vendors, with the recently released Microsoft SQL Server 7 product adding
a further competitor, albeit not strictly in the embedded database market.
Centura’s Product Strategy
Key to success in today’s IT world is the notion of a solution, and if an out-of-the-box solution is not entirely possible, then the availability of complementing products to fulfil an end-to-end requirement is the next best thing. This is where Centura Software Corporation exhibits its true strength, with a product portfolio that includes an impressive Team Developer product, allied with a series of secure database and connectivity offerings. Perhaps, before looking at the product strategy, it is worth articulating the major IT themes that Centura has identified and which it is trying to address with its range of products. The first theme is that data is becoming more distributed. This isn’t just the laptop computer or Personal Digital Assistant (PDA). Smart devices, minute in comparison to today’s products will have the capacity for substantial data storage. Centura has concentrated in this segment of the database industry since its very inception. What is more, in modern business, information is replacing the capital asset as a key determinant of wealth. As the value of information becomes more universally recognised, so it must be subject to stringent security procedures. Again Centura has now developed a possibly unique level of security features in the SQLBase Safegarde, and SQLBase Safegarde Max products. Lastly, Centura believes that distributed information must be connected to existing business systems if it is going to play its true role in the e-business systems of the immediate future. This is a feature that runs right throughout the Centura product range whether talking Centura Team Developer, net.db, SQLBase Exchange, SQLHost or connectivity at the extremities through SQL Network for APpliances (SNAP).
The company’s history identifies the lightweight database as the starting point, and this has been ever present in its product brochure. Lest it should be misinterpreted, it should be pointed out that ‘lightweight’ in this context refers to deployment and administration, not functionality, which is fully secure, fully SQL and robust. Centura Team Developer is the 32-bit successor to SQLWindows, and has been designed from the ground-up, to provide organisations with applications that are robust and can cope with the demands made in enterprise, networked environments. This is where the present and future lie. At this point in time, it is difficult to understand just how different the IT infrastructure is now, compared to when the first version of SQLBase hit the streets. Centura products now cover embedded, e-business and micro databases, Centura Team Development application development tools for both Windows client and Web-based deployment, a Web authoring tool, and connectivity products, such as SNAP. To extend this even further, Centura is in partnership with companies such as emWare, through Embed The Internet (ETI), enabling thin client access to server-based logic and data.
In February 1999, Centura announced the launch of SQLHost 4.1, a product which opens the connectivity from user desktops to enterprise DB2 data on the IBM O/S390 platform. This release of the software allows the development of powerful, high concurrency client/server and Web applications which access DB2 and legacy data sources positioned on the IBM S/390.
It can be seen, therefore, that Centura offers connectivity from the back-office down to the smallest device. This, in combination with the high security features of the SQLBase database product, and its eminent suitability for deployment as an embedded function, provides the opportunity to effect a complete and secure top to bottom information exchange mechanism.
Recently, Butler Group conducted a series of Technology Audits into three of Centura Software Corporation’s most significant products: SQLBase 7.5; net.db; and Centura Team Developer. Each Technology Audit comprises eight pages, covering: Butler Group Viewpoint; Summary; Market Position; Platforms and Connectivity; Technical Features; Future Development, and a Vendor Profile. The following section gives no more than a thumbnail sketch of each, but is included in order to summarise the main features of the products, in combination with the views of Butler Group.
SQLBase 7.5
SQLBase, the first client/server RDBMS specifically designed for the PC, was first released in the 1980s, and has been extensively developed since that time. The PC-centric nature of its design gives it the clear advantage of being able to scale up, whilst its much larger counterparts do not enjoy the same ease of being able to scale down. Through this and SQLBase’s technological excellence, it has the potential to take on a leading position which others are going to find difficult to challenge. SQLBase is capable of scaling from smart devices to the Web, from a single user system to 200 concurrent users in a multi-user environment. In fact, version 7.5 of SQLBase now has a Very Large DataBase (VLDB) file size of 512 gigabytes. The SQLBase core database engine, which can be server or client-based, has been continuously developed to provide extended functionality. The product supports both developer and deployment environments, with SQLBase Individual Development Kit (IDK), the SQLBase Team Development Kit (TDK) for developers, and the SQLBase Embedded Deployment Pack (EDP) for deployment.
Simplicity of Deployment
The deployment and administrative costs of supporting distributed users has become a high priority in the boardrooms of most organisations. SQLBase was designed from the outset to address the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) issue, by providing a small footprint and a DataBase Administrator (DBA)-free zone.
SQLBase database configuration is achieved using SQLBase’s utilities and configuration Wizards, in addition to which SQLBase will detect all software installed, including network protocols and configurations. This has enhanced the attractiveness of the product to embedded systems specialists, and organisations where technology specialists would be an unnecessary overhead. SQLBase achieves this technology-free zone through its self-maintaining features, including automated data replication and remote maintenance capabilities. Automated backup of data is provided through the availability of full Calendar controls. Dates can be selected, for example, to indicate holiday periods, or simply out of hours working. Backup can be achieved either in batch or on-line, and can be both server and client-based. On recovery from a failover, SQLBase automatically checks all logs on reinstatement, to ensure the integrity of the database. The monitoring of database performance is carried out using SQLConsole, which provides administrators with the capability to monitor all activity, on-line and in real-time. This includes the raising of alarms and full audit facilities, which permit data to be displayed dynamically, as well as being written to a file.
Data Exchange
The import and export of data between SQLBase databases is easily achieved via SQLBase Exchange (optional product), which provides both replication and synchronisation features. Exchange is ActiveX-based, and supports various communication protocols, including Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) and Internet Package eXchange/Sequenced Packet eXchange (IPX/SPX). Replication can be achieved either on-line via active connections, or asynchronously, using intermediate flat files. A degree of flexibility is provided, ranging from replicating data between two servers to complex multi-tier architectures. Data transformation techniques can be applied during the transfer.
Connectivity to clients and databases other than SQLBase is achieved through standardised Open DataBase Connectivity (ODBC) Level 3, and Java DataBase Connectivity (JDBC) Type 4 interfaces – making it possible to write 100 per cent pure Java applications. Other options include native connectivity components supplied by the database vendor and supported by SQLBase, for example SQLBase Exchange/Oracle.
Security Features
The security features of SQLBase have been greatly enhanced in version 7.5. Centura has seen this as a key feature of SQLBase, and has provided a level of security not normally associated with enterprise-level products from companies such as Oracle and Microsoft.
SQLBase supports three separate levels of encryption:
Whilst Butler Group cannot vouch for the figures, Centura’s own internal tests indicate that the added security of 56-bit encryption in SQLBase Safegarde does not come at the cost of degraded performance, which is still 2.5 to 3 times better than one of the company’s close competitors.
The provision of 128-bit encryption – supporting the 128-bit Triple Data Encryption Standard (DES) – is a major coup for Centura, given the US government’s reluctance to export the technology. Encryption covers log files, network traffic and data files. The integrity of data pages are ensured, using a secure hash algorithm that prevents changes being made.
Centura additionally provides a migration service which facilitates the transfer of data from Access, Btrieve, Pervasive SQL, and Sybase SQL Anywhere into Centura SQLBase without the need to change application code. In effect, users can avail themselves of secure features in a matter of weeks if not days
net.db
Corporate information has now displaced employees as an
organisation’s most valuable asset. It is therefore of little wonder that
many companies are seeking ways of deploying and distributing corporate
information to their employees and customers, regardless of location, as
quickly, efficiently and cheaply as possible. In the emerging world of
e-business, organisational limits no longer represent
the extremities of the IT infrastructure. The importance of secure end-to-end
interconnectivity cannot be over-emphasised in this context. net.db from
Centura is designed to provide organisations with the capacity to create
dynamic Web sites by accessing and distributing data from corporate relational
databases, wherever and whenever required. Installation is quick and easy,
taking only a few minutes to be up and running, and requires minimum administrator
involvement.
Centura net.db is available in two editions:
Web Page Creation
To create output pages, a user opens a database with a simple click of a button, net.db utilises the intelligent Wizards supplied to automatically create HTML pages for each table in the database, along with ad hoc search forms and buttons for adding, modifying and deleting records.
The HTML pages are linked together using navigational buttons, enabling users to navigate between tables and records, and then stored in a template on the Web server. Out-of-the-box, HTML-based wallpaper templates are supplied with the product.
These are easily customised with company logos and artwork, therefore enforcing corporate design standards where appropriate. Support for popular third-party HTML authoring solutions, such as HotMetal or Microsoft FrontPage, is also provided.
Database Connectivity
With the use of a Web browser, users are able to access the net.db Object Engine, which is basically a Common Gateway Interface (CGI) application, to provide the connectivity to corporate relational databases, from companies including: Oracle; Sybase; Informix; and Microsoft. In addition to supporting CGI, net.db also supports Internet Server Application Programming Interface (ISAPI) and Netscape Server Application Programming Interface (NSAPI) standards. Native database connectivity provides net.db with fast, direct access to data without being encumbered with having to use Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) or other linking technologies, although, where necessary, ODBC is supported. net.db is also sophisticated enough to recognise different dialects of SQL. In such circumstances, it customises its SQL to conform to the different databases with which it is working, thus avoiding the need to involve developers in complex interpretation processes by having to write code to overcome the problem. net.db is also supplied with its own embedded database, which is Centura’s SQLBase.
Centura Team Developer (CTD)
CTD – the 32-bit successor to SQLWindows – provides an Integrated Development Environment (IDE) for developing both 16- and 32-bit client/server applications that are capable of being deployed in both Windows-based and Web operating environments. CTD supports a number of modules, including its own fourth generation (4GL) development language – Scalable Application Language (SAL), which forms the central platform of CTD. Although SAL is Centura’s proprietary development language, its basic syntax is comparable to standard languages such as Visual Basic (VB). It is, therefore, a shallow learning curve for experienced developers to learn the necessary skills.
Founded on Object-Oriented (OO) technology, which fully supports single multi-level inheritance, multiple inheritance, polymorphism and encapsulation. CTD provides developers with an integrated tool-set for developing enterprise-scale applications, both in terms of number of users and size of application.
Rather than creating large, cumbersome and inflexible applications, OO allows applications to be written as small components that can be snapped together, supporting the creation of large, complex, and flexible applications for deployment across the enterprise. CTD modules include:
These features include: point-and-click Wizards; pre-built objects that include visual interfaces to third-party solutions and systems; and over 500 built-in functions, enabling applications to be built quickly to achieve maximum productivity and deployment targets.
CTD is able to integrate with any application supporting Microsoft’s COM, Distributed COM (DCOM) or ActiveX standards, providing the necessary infrastructure to allow different applications to interconnect both locally and distributed over a network. Currently, ActiveX support is only available on the client. The ability to create ActiveX servers in CTD will be available in the next release. It is anticipated that the COM/DCOM version of CTD 2.0 will be in beta release by the third quarter of 1999. The ability to access data held on disparate corporate databases is a key requirement of any enterprise application deployment. CTD provides native connectivity to a variety of databases, providing fast access methods to the data, as well as support for ODBC. Native database routers are installed and configured via the new Connectivity Administrator, considerably easing the task of configuring applications to access relational databases.
Centura’s membership of Microsoft’s Windows Distributed interNet Applications (DNA) Architecture Platform Partnership programme ensures that CTD developers will have access to COM, OLE DB, and eXtensible Markup Language (XML) technologies. The fact that Microsoft is using XML for BizTalk and sees it at the heart of e-business is entirely consistent with Centura’s aims to put CTD firmly at the centre of migrating client/server applications to the Internet.
Team Object Manager
The central repository is an essential requirement for the building of scalable, robust applications. The key role of the repository is not just as a facilitator, but rather as a place where business objects can be centrally held and managed quite independently to support large-scale application development environments. CTD fully satisfies this essential requirement through the TOM component, a fully featured source code and component management system. For development purposes, a full single-user copy of Centura SQLBase is provided, which enables TOM to take full advantage of the SQLBase data dictionary, where all the elements used to create an application are stored. TOM is an essential element in controlling large scale development projects where the delivery of on specification, on time, on budget software is much more of a challenge.
Team development is fully supported with check-in/check-out version control features, and multiple check-out functionality if required, to support teamworking on an individual application. Reporting facilities are provided, indicating frequency of check-in/check-out usage, by whom and when. Additional control is leveraged through the merge feature, where differences between versions are highlighted prior to selecting which components are to be merged together.
Application debugging is achieved within the TOM environment via the defect tracking and code difference analysis features. Visual debugging features full break point and line by line step through, plus the ability to animate code to create faster/slower access.
Centura Developer Extensions Kit
Extending the IDE is achieved via the Centura CDK, which provides developers with the ability to build add-ons in SAL or C++, for simplifying complex and repetitive development tasks using the utilities and Wizards provided. Code is automatically generated to minimise the application developers input. If required, developers have the capability to create individual application design Wizards, code profiling solutions, and extended debuggers.
Centura Web Developer (CWD)
Centura Web Developer, an optional product designed for developers building Web applications only, is a subset of the CTD product set. It provides all the necessary support for developers, including database connectivity features. CTD applications built using the Web QuickObjects class library are Web-enabled through the Web Application Manager, allowing developers to write one set of components for deployment anywhere within the enterprise. The Web Application Manager, Centura’s Application Server for the Web, and Web Server Interface provide all the functionality required for deploying both CTD and Web Developer applications across the Internet.
To cater for the high volume usage expected of Web applications, the Web Application Manager supports server load balancing and a distributed architecture – both essential requirements for achieving acceptable service levels. However, whilst application partitioning is not supported, a ThreadSafe API, for running multiple programs, can be generated. Access from a Web client is achieved using a standard Web browser, supporting ultra thin-client computing to minimise the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO).
The User Interface (UI) is displayed as a standard Windows UI or as a HTML representation in a browser, with identical features, fields, buttons and screen layout, etc.
The necessity for developing and deploying business-critical applications throughout the enterprise, from desktop clients to the Web, is being addressed by organisations regardless of size or market sector. The support for industry standards is key to providing an open, extensible tool-set capable of providing a future-proof technological environment. Butler Group believes that Centura’s IDE provides developers with such an environment, enabling them to concentrate on the business issues, whilst CTD takes care of the technology issues.
SQLNetwork for Appliances (SNAP)
A further element in the Centura strategy for end-to-end connectivity is SNAP, a software product which sits at the extremities of the network. In effect, it will provide end-to-end connectivity of intelligent devices, whether this is a GSM mobile phone device connecting to a back-office system, or a PDA connecting to some other smart device. Centura envisage a universe of microservers where the difficulty of proprietary protocol and flawed interoperability are removed. Intended to have universal applicability in this space, SNAP is currently being developed to work on WinCE devices and smart cards.
Centura – The Company
Originally known as Gupta Technologies, Inc., Centura Software Corporation was founded in 1984 by Umang Gupta, then Vice-President of Oracle’s microcomputer division, and Bruce Scott, co-author of the Oracle database engine. Their objective in doing so was to migrate the relational database from the mainframe down to the PC.
In this, it certainly succeeded, establishing the company as one of the leaders in this field by the 1990s, and importantly in view of what was to come, creating an army of developers and users who liked the company and its products. In May 1996, the company undertook a transformation which saw the launch of its first second-generation application development product line, and a change from Gupta Technologies, Inc. to Centura Software Corporation. The transformation was intended to position the company to more aggressively exploit the market opportunities in networked computing and the embedded database market by the persistent downsizing of the client device, not only the PC or the hand-held device, but the forthcoming smart device market.
Unfortunately, the events of 1996, whether due to name change or technical perspective, appear to have destabilised the company to the extent that 1996, and 1997 could best be described as the sort of trading years that are put down to experience. From a revenue perspective, Centura’s best year was 1995 when the company turned in $65 million.
This has been the revenue high spot so far, but CEO Scott Broomfield, recruited in late 1997 to stem the tide, expects to achieve $64 million in 1999, and a growth to, in excess of $100 million within two years. More significantly, the company has improved net equity from negative $11 million last year to positive $7 million this year, and has converted a negative $1.7 million cash flow to positive $5.3 million cash flow – a swing of $7 million in a very short space of time.
The events of 1996, and 1997, are the point where a loyal user-base comes in very useful, and Centura is certainly blessed in this respect. This prop is not sustainable in the absence of other action and Centura has taken steps to stem the haemorrhage of cash, stabilise the company and prepare a sound financial platform for future expansion.
Scott Broomfield set about creating the structure that would deliver what was required. Early 1998 saw a restructuring in which roughly a dozen senior Centura executives were given new areas of responsibility. This push to improve corporate infrastructure also saw recruitment of heavy hitters from outside the company. Len Strickler joined Centura as Vice-President of US Sales and Marketing from Sun Microsystems, where he had spent five years. At the same time, Jay Botelho, previously principal product manager in Oracle Corporation’s mobile and embedded databases division, joined the company as Senior Product Manager for Centura tools. More recently, the already impressive team at Centura has been further strengthened by the appointment of Joseph Falcone as new Senior Vice-President and Chief Technical Officer. Falcone was previously with Inprise Corporation, where his most recent position held was that of Director of Engineering for Inprise’s Windows product group.
A further indication of Centura’s resurgence is the acquisition of fellow embedded database vendor Raima Corporation in a stock purchase expected to close on or before 1st June 1999. Raima Corporation was founded in 1982, and has its offices in Seattle. The company’s products, including the flagship Velocis Database Server will become brands within Centura. The natural fit in the technology portfolio augers well for the continuing progress of Centura Software Corporation in the burgeoning embedded database market.
Currently, Centura, which has its corporate head office in Redwood Shores, California, employs over 200 people and maintains 19 offices worldwide, although these figures are set to rise when the Raima employees come on board. Its channel to market includes Valued Added Resellers (VARs), Systems Integrators (SIs), and Other Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs). By their very nature, application development products like SQLBase and Centura Team Developer rely on strong partner relationships to develop and deliver application functionality. Centura’s partners number over 1,000 worldwide and deliver tailored, business-specific solutions, class libraries, consulting and packaged products. Apart from strategic OEM relationships with major corporations and industry distributors, such as Ingram and Tech Data, Centura is working with Microsoft, Sun Microsystems, Novell and others to ensure its products deliver openness, flexibility and power, not only today but into the future.
Centura is traded on Nasdaq under the symbol CNTR and has as its mission statement:
“Our mission is to provide Secure, Embedded, E-Business, and Micro Database solutions and the connectivity necessary to integrate these solutions into business systems.”
Conclusion
In the fast moving and ever-changing business world of today, the incentive for providing secure, up-to-date, valid information to an organisation’s workers has never been more apparent. The Web is becoming synonymous with the transfer of information to all corners of the enterprise.
Although we may think that each new and thinner laptop or small hand-held device represents the limit of technology, nothing could be further from the truth. If experience teaches us anything, it is that progress marches on in ways that often surprise even the most free-thinking technocrat. So it is that we are perched on the threshold of a new era of computing, one where applications will reach right down into the domestic appliances that form such an integral part of everyone’s lives. The embedded chip, the smart device, even the Java ring, will move up a gear to possess application logic and data handling capability. Yes, the office drinks machine will communicate with the warehouse to order replenishments. The central heating boiler will notify the maintenance engineer that a part has developed a fault. That these types of applications will exist is not in doubt, only the time of arrival is yet to be pencilled in.
This is the market that Scott Broomfield and Centura Software Corporation are gearing up to. The range of product features, the embedded database expertise possessed by the company, the single-minded focus of the executive team, all combine to create a powerful competitor in this emerging market scenario. As previously identified, there are other players in contention, but none that Butler Group can identify which have as close a product fit to the requirements of this new paradigm. Whether this lead can be sustained, only the next five years will tell; as is always the case, much depends on the timing of the wave. If it arrives too late, the momentum will be lost. Despite having some difficult times in the immediate past, Centura has a solid base of goodwill amongst its customers and end-users. Although it could be quite dangerous to mix technology with religion, now is the time to convert those existing customers into Centura evangelists. It is the best reference any company can have.
Contact
Centura Software
Lunar House
Globe Park
Marlow
Bucks
SL7 1LW
UK
Tel: +44 (0)1628 478333
Fax: +44(0)1628 481076